Marc Jacobs told a reporter "it would be an honor" to design for Dior. "There's no question that the two great couture houses in Paris are Chanel and Dior…. I think it would be a very hard thing to turn down." This is the first time that the designer has directly addressed the rumor that he is in talks to succeed the fired John Galliano at Christian Dior. The latest rumor is that Dior parent company Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy is balking at Jacobs' and business partner Robert Duffy's demand of $10+ million-dollar salaries apiece. [CNN]
Meanwhile, Carolina Herrera thinks convicted racist and anti-Semite John Galliano has a future in fashion. "I'm positive — he's too talented. You have to realize that he wasn't himself. He was totally drunk. He couldn't remember what he said. How can you judge somebody like that? It's very sad. I don't think he was very well protected." [FWD]
So does Vogue Italia editor Franca Sozzani. "Look, I understand their point of view. I understand they couldn't just say, ‘Bad boy! We forgive you! Come back!' But it's really a pity. And I will never believe he believed what he said. I think he was drunk and alone in a bar. When people go crazy, they go crazy. It's a human case, it's not political or religious. He didn't kill anyone!" [TDB]

Rich Hil, Tommy Hilfiger's "rapper" celebukid, was "sad" about the incredible and amazing and utterly magnificent Observerprofile that forever will associate his name with statements like "something about the people who are addicted to alcohol and cocaine, they seemed like fags to me. Not ‘fags' as in ‘gay.' I have nothing against gay people. Mad people in my family are gay." And "I've already reached all my old goals. I was like, ‘Yo, I want to be the best rapper that was born in Connecticut ever.' I'm that! No less than that, you can't even front." Yes, friends, seeing himself in print made young Rich Hil sad. Then some people from KCD, his father's fashion PR firm, decided the Rich Hil entourage was taking up too much of the front row, so they moved them all. [Styleite]

It's official...ish. Kanye West will show at Paris fashion week. Right after Jean Paul Gaultier, in fact. [HB Aus]

Chris Benz went to a puppy store before his fashion show yesterday. Puppies! Nobody could be stressed-out when looking at puppies. [The Cut]

Bono and Ali Hewson say that their fashion line, Edun, which is backed by LVMH, is important because aid to Africa is not enough — manufacturing has to be developed, too. "Every one percent of world trade accounts for $155 billion in trade," says Hewson. "That's four times what sub-Saharan Africa gets in a year in aid." Around 37% of Edun's clothing is made in Africa. [WWD]

We've always wondered who — besides us, that is — ever eats the canapés at fashion parties. Waris Ahluwalia, it turns out! At the Edun after-party at the Red Rooster, he recommended the crab cakes to a reporter. "You have to find one. I should have just taken the whole tray." [The Cut]

Maggie Gyllenhaal gets sent a lot of expensive handbags by luxury brands. So she gives them to her friends. Also, vibrators. Thanks to the movie Hysteria, "I was sent a lot of vibrators from different sex stores in England while we were shooting the movie. I shared them around." Being friends with Maggie Gyllenhaal sounds awesome. [The Cut]

Yigal Azrouël said, of showing on the tenth anniversary of 9/11, "It's not that we don't think about that. I was there when that happened. I did my show a day before. I experienced it myself in a way, you know. But you have to keep moving. It's not healthy to stop you from what you're supposed to be doing." [Styleite]

A company that came up with a nifty way of convincing customers the fake Cartier jewelry it sold was real — charging nearly the same $30,000+ retail prices Cartier does — has been ordered to pay $37.4 million to Cartier's parent company. By charging such high prices, it duped people into believing what they were buying was authentic Cartier from the grey market. [WWD]

Neiman Marcus lost $61.4 million during the last quarter, compared with a $32.8 million loss one year ago. [WWD]